The 2019 BOSS MBA rankings send a clear message on what motivates business students. Expanding career horizons, working more effectively and building confidence are the stand-out drivers for people enrolling in the Master of Business Administration.

Higher salary isn’t a key motivation, coming in at number four as the reason for enrolling in an MBA. But it is certainly a benefit, according to the only domestic survey of MBA programs in Australia.

Salary increases are a side-effect of an MBA rather than the main game. Supplied

These insights come as the biennial AFR BOSS magazine survey reveals that the top five MBA schools are at The University of Sydney, University of Adelaide, Queensland University of Technology, University of South Australia and Griffith University.

The top three Executive MBA (EMBA) schools are at The University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology and AGSM @ UNSW Business School.

The rankings are calculated using an alumni survey, including feedback on student satisfaction, improvement and value for money, and data provided by the business schools, including accreditations, qualifications of teaching staff, research output and staff with current or recent business experience.

Only 36 per cent of graduates ranked higher salary as a “very important” motivation for study. So, many might have been pleasantly surprised to find that higher income was a significant benefit. The average salary increase for executives who completed an MBA between 2016 and 2018 was 28 per cent.

Those who graduated with an MBA from Sydney University are likely to be pulling in 55 per cent higher pay than they were before they did their degree.

The salary effect is more marked for EMBA graduates, with an average remuneration bump of 44 per cent.

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Guy Farrow, managing partner at the Sydney office of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, says salary increases are a side-effect of an MBA rather than the main game.

“There is a recognition that professional development will help your career,” Farrow says. “By doing that you will lift your remuneration. But that’s not the goal for most people, it’s a byproduct. The MBA is about personal growth, about taking your life and career in a different direction.”

This is the first time the survey has asked graduates about remuneration, but it is not a ranking measure.

One surprising trend is the low satisfaction with digital skills. MBA graduates ranked “digital capability and leadership” with the lowest of their approvals, with only 17 per cent saying they were “very satisfied” with the digital skills they had learnt.

Tim Sleep, managing director at executive recruitment company Odgers Berndtson, says digitisation of the consumer experience has shown that these skills are vital, but lacking.

“People in their 30s and 40s are self-disciplined and well read,” Sleep says. “And people in their 20s are more savvy. But their expectations of learning digital skills are not being met. Business schools definitely appreciate it is a gap. They’re rewriting courses and updating as quickly as they can. They know digital is an increasingly competitive environment.”

When it comes to value for money, there is little relationship between the course fee and level of satisfaction.

Second from the bottom in the percentage of graduates who say an MBA is value for money is Macquarie University, which charges $80,000. But bottom of this list is Victoria University, which charges $40,200. Top of the value list is Sydney University, with 93 per cent of students happy with a course fee of $63,000.

Employers, like students, can have different expectations of business studies. Stuart Marsh, head of talent acquisition at engineers Aecom, says he doesn’t go out of his way to employ MBA graduates. “We don’t employ an MBA,” he says, “we employ a person with an MBA.”

The benefit of the degree is what the student has picked up from the way they’ve done their study, he says. “A lot of MBA modules involve working as part of a group. We’re a problem-solving business, [so] the joint approach is very important to us. It means a different way of thinking.”

The development of alternative supplies of critical minerals, as well as other joint efforts by Australia and the United States to address Chinese influence in the region, will dominate talks in Washington.